Disney’s Daughter: Fantasia ‘Tops’ Among Disney Animated Classics (1 Viewer)

[TravisD]

I agree with that,..these days,..why not a seamless branch of the theatrical and roadshow with Deems in the former restored?

 

[MatthewA]

With the old DVD, I had read that what existed of the audio for the Deems Taylor roadshow track only existed in very small fragments, not even complete sentences, and that a mix of redubbed and original dialogue would not work.

 

[Brian W.]

Originally Posted by DeeF

I don't understand the Deems Taylor redub. His voice was always in the movie, but I hear there were some pieces missing? So they had the entire thing redubbed. Why not just redub the missing parts? It just doesn't make sense to me.

They did just redub the missing parts. Originally. This time, according to the review at DVD Beaver, they've redubbed the whole thing.

The "pieces missing" were the original roadshow version of the film. It was cut for wide release. They found the film elements for the cut scenes, but couldn't find the soundtrack. Hence the dub.

 

[cafink]

Originally Posted by DeeF

I don't understand the Deems Taylor redub. His voice was always in the movie, but I hear there were some pieces missing? So they had the entire thing redubbed. Why not just redub the missing parts? It just doesn't make sense to me.

A dub wouldn't be a perfect match for Taylor's voice. If they'd dubbed over only some parts, there would be a noticeable inconsistency between the two different voices. Now, whether that inconsistency is more or less distracting than having someone else's voice coming out of Taylor's mouth is debatable, but I can certainly understand their decision.

 

[cafink]

Originally Posted by Brian W.

They did just redub the missing parts. Originally. This time, according to the review at DVD Beaver, they've redubbed the whole thing.

I don't know about the pre-DVD releases of Fantasia, but the full dubbing wasn't done specifically for this release. The DVD was exactly the same.

 

[Paul Penna]

Originally Posted by cafink




I don't know about the pre-DVD releases of Fantasia, but the full dubbing wasn't done specifically for this release. The DVD was exactly the same.

I can verify that. The DVD was billed as the first re-release of the roadshow version and thus required dubbing the cut Taylor sections for which the audio had been lost. The same controversy arose with that issue. I personally come down on the side of not caring whether there'd be any inconsistency between the original Taylor sections and the dubbed. On the other hand, I hardly ever watch those parts of the film.

 

[Brian W.]

Originally Posted by cafink

They did just redub the missing parts. Originally. This time, according to the review at DVD Beaver, they've redubbed the whole thing.

I don't know about the pre-DVD releases of Fantasia, but the full dubbing wasn't done specifically for this release. The DVD was exactly the same.

[/QUOTE]

Hmm, you may be right. All these years I thought (and, according to IMDB, many people think) only the missing dialogue sections were dubbed over.

 

[Paul Penna]

Originally Posted by Brian W.

I don't know about the pre-DVD releases of Fantasia, but the full dubbing wasn't done specifically for this release. The DVD was exactly the same.

Hmm, you may be right. All these years I thought (and, according to IMDB, many people think) only the missing dialogue sections were dubbed over.

[/QUOTE]

Comparing the DVD to the laserdisc, it's quite clear that none of Taylor's "voice" is original; everything coming out of his mouth is re-dubbed.

 

[RobertR]

Originally Posted by bigshot

Every time I've seen Fantasia in the theater, I've fallen asleep at least once. There is great stuff in the movie... And there is also bad stuff like Pastoral.

I'm trying to figure out what's "bad" about the Pastoral (the music was written by the greatest symphonic composer).

 

[Paul Penna]

Originally Posted by RobertR

Every time I've seen Fantasia in the theater, I've fallen asleep at least once. There is great stuff in the movie... And there is also bad stuff like Pastoral.

I'm trying to figure out what's "bad" about the Pastoral (the music was written by the greatest symphonic composer).

[/QUOTE]

For me, the only sections that are tedious are the Bach and the Schubert. As for the Pastoral, I get impatient with the centaurs, but for the most part I think the rest is rather charming in a cartoony way. I don't hold with the feeling many express about it devaluing or being disrespectful to Beethoven. Ludwig's a big boy, he can take it. It's not what I get from the music on its own, but it doesn't bother me being used this way and I think it supports the action. The Rite of Spring, similarly, though I more admire the animation than enjoy the section as a whole. Favorites are the Night on Bald Mountain (which also features Stokowski at his most characteristic), Sorcerer, Nutcracker and Dance of the Hours. I always watch just sections, though; can't remember when I last sat through the whole thing start to finish. Probably in one of the theatrical re-releases years and years ago.

 

[bigshot]

The Pastoral is kitsch of the first order. Pretty little china doll characters, lacy doily style pink and mauve backgrounds with "high class" Greek touches and lots of neutered baby bottoms. It's what someone with absolutely no idea of what classical music is about might imagine classical music was about. Disney sunk deeper into this bad taste Hallmark card style a few years later with Trees and Two Silhouettes. The best parts of Fantasia are the ones that show some understanding of the spirit of the music. And I put the Stravinsky into that category. It may not be what Stravinsky was envisioning, but it has the primal raw power of the music.

 

I love the Pastoral. It's classic Disney. And it has enough atmosphere to fit in perfectly with the film.

 

[Paul Penna]

Well, one man's kitsch is another man's... kitsch. But some kitsch I like. To me, the epitome of the other kind is the Schubert finale. It literally looks like a cliché Christmas card.

 

[bigshot]

A non-denominational Christmas card! It's Ave Maria without Maria.

 

[RobertR]

Originally Posted by bigshot

The Pastoral is kitsch of the first order. Pretty little china doll characters, lacy doily style pink and mauve backgrounds with "high class" Greek touches and lots of neutered baby bottoms. It's what someone with absolutely no idea of what classical music is about might imagine classical music was about.

Ok, now I get where you're coming from. Personally, I find the segment rather charming, but I can see how you can think it's too cutesy. Actually, the only negative I have to say about Fantasia is that I'd rather listen to the complete pieces in their own right (except for The Sorcerer's Apprentice).

 

[Douglas R]

Fantasia is one of those films which I feel I have to have in my collection because of its historical importance but I certainly find much of it tedious, as I did when I first saw it during a theatrical reissue as a child - in fact, in my experience, few children enjoy the film. Whether I need to update my copy of the excellent DVD Fantasia Anthology is debatable.